MacTech Blog

Oct 02

Ad fraud to cost advertisers $19 billion in 2018

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that advertisers will lose an estimated $19 billion to fraudulent activities next year, equivalent to $51 million per day. This figure, representing advertising on online and mobile devices, will continue to rise, reaching $44 billion by 2022.

Juniper says that the “Walled Garden,”a closed platform approach whereby advertising platforms restrict the flow of advertising performance data to advertisers and publishers must be abandoned to stimulate transparency between stakeholders. The report found that advertising fraud rates will continue to increase as a result of this, further hindering stakeholder efforts in tackling fraud.

Additionally, the research predicted that AI will be crucial in analyzing the vast amounts of data generated from advertising activities daily and minimizing loss due to fraud. It predicted that...

The global smart home hub market is likely to post a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of more than 5% and 4% in terms of unit shipment and revenue, respectively, during 2016-2022, according to Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

One of the reasons for increasing sales of smart home hub in developing as well as developed countries is urbanization, notes the research group. Urbanization has led to the creation of better job opportunities for people, which, in turn, leads to the improvement in their living standards.

Increased per capita income and growth of dual-income households constitute the basis for increasing spend on smart devices worldwide. Further, the cost-effectiveness of smart home hubs offered online (often at discounted prices) is also attracting price-sensitive, new buyers in the market. In addition, improving global economic conditions will drive the...

This summer, the U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Merck has suffered the Petya ransomware attack that required to hand over a ransom or have its computers remain locked and inaccessible. One month before, the WannaCry ransomware attack devastated many big organizations around the world, including national healthcare organizations such as UK’s National Health Service (NHS).

Last week, cybersecurity experts warned that medical care would suffer from new additional risks they are not prepared to handle. The new threats are coming from the “Internet of Bodies” – IoT devices incorporated into human bodies for medical purposes.

“Healthcare companies are probably the most susceptible to upcoming ransomware attacks – and these attacks will come again, we have no doubts about it,” said Marty P. Kamden, IT security expert and CMO at NordVPN (www.nordvpn.com). “Outdated technology, lack of experience in...

Most app development companies require a pre-development research or “discovery”stage with their clients to clarify project objectives and details and gauge client expectations, according to new survey data from Clutch (www.clutch.co), a B2B (business to business) ratings and reviews firm. Nearly 70% of 102 app development companies surveyed say they mandate this discovery phase, which also helps formulate a realistic cost estimate for an app development project.

App development costs vary and are based on features, timelines, the type of firm employed, and other factors. Businesses can research app development prices online, but experts agree that identifying an accurate estimate is unlikely without completing the discovery stage in collaboration with an app development company.

"It makes sense to only give an exact [price] estimate after the team clearly understands what should be done," says Dmitry Dobritskiy...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that a surge in shared transport will continue, with driver and passenger numbers seeing substantial growth over the next five years.

The new research forecasts that the number of ride sharing drivers will increase from an estimated 4.3 million in 2017, to 8.6 million by 2022, representing an annual average growth of 14.8%. Juniper found that operators in ride sharing, a market set to represent 47% of sharing economy platform revenues by 2022, are growing established markets through innovation.

“Players including BlaBlaCar, which is expanding its operations through carpooling, and Lyft which is strengthening its partnerships towards the development of autonomous vehicles, are setting their sights on diversifying their business models in order to out-pace rivals,” says research author Lauren Foye.

Worldwide spending on cognitive and artificial intelligence (AI) systems is forecast to reach $57.6 billion in 2021, according to a recent update of the Worldwide Semiannual Cognitive Artificial Intelligence Systems Spending Guide from International Data Corporation (IDC).

With many industries aggressively investing in cognitive and AI solutions, spending is expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50.1% over the 2016-2021 forecast period, notes the research group. Worldwide spending on cognitive and AI systems will total $12.0 billion in 2017, an increase of 59.1% over 2016.

"Cognitive and artificial intelligence solutions continue to proliferate across all industries resulting in significant growth opportunities," said Marianne Daquila, research manager Customer Insights and Analysis at IDC. "Some of the use cases are very industry specific, such as diagnosis and treatment in healthcare, and in others they are common across multiple industries...

The second quarter of 2017 (Q2 2017) was a buoyant quarter for business smartphones and tablets, as the market showed signs of a rebound, according to Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com). Business smartphone shipments grew +14.8% year-over-year (YoY), to reach 107.1 million units in Q2 2017, up 6.1% sequentially from Q1 2017.

Business tablets reached 17.3 million units in the second quarter, a 7.5% increase from Q1 2017 and a 0.7% increase on Q2 2016. Overall, while Q2 2017 showed signs of an uptick on a slower first quarter, suggesting signs of slight improvement for the remainder of the year, the outlook still remains volatile, with longer replacement cycles and GDPR likely to impact the market over the short to medium term, according to Strategy Analytics. The research group says that, through the first half of the year, the pace of business mobile devices shipments appear to be...

"Deep learning is here to stay and expands ML by allowing intermediate representations of the data," said Alexander Linden, research vice president at the research group. "It ultimately solves complex, data-rich business problems. Deep learning can, for example, give promising results when interpreting medical images in order to diagnose cancer early. It can also help improve the sight of visually impaired people, control self-driving vehicles, or recognize and understand a specific person's speech."

A new study by Accenture (www.accenture.com), a global professional services company, finds that, while large financial institutions have made progress applying smart technologies like cloud, biometrics, and big data analytics to their risk management functions, two-thirds (66%) of executives say skills deficiencies are impeding the effectiveness of the function as these technologies evolve.

The study, which is based on a survey of 475 risk management executives in the banking, insurance and capital markets sectors globally, also found that three-quarters of executives (73%) cite an increase in the “velocity, variety and volume” of data as impeding the effectiveness of their risk management functions.

According to the study, firms are struggling to develop the skills necessary to make use of the larger information flows and take advantage of related opportunities.
“As the nature of risk becomes...

TeenSafe, an independent smartphone control and monitoring service for parents, has carried out its first national parent survey on teen distracted driving and technologies and found:

° 40% know a teen involved in a distracted driving accident.

° 91% believe texting and 76% believe using apps or social media are the leading factors in teen distracted driving.

° All respondents would use TeenSafe Control (or other technologies) if it would lower their insurance premiums.

° Almost 68% would install additional hardware in the vehicle to enable the TeenSafe Control App to monitor driver speed, location, etc.

° 77% are unaware of any insurance incentive programs to help prevent distracted driving

"Our goal is to end teen smartphone-related distracted driving," said TeenSafe CEO Ralph Acosta. "The statistics on this issue are unsettling and highlighted in our recent blog post. Our TeenSafe Control App allows parents to disable their teen's phone...

The global mobile phone insurance market is expected to account for $20.5 billion in revenue by the end of 2017, according to ReportsnReports.com.

The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of approximately 10% over the next three years, eventually accounting for more than $27 billion in revenue by the end of 2020, adds the research group. Many smartphone makers — including Apple, Samsung, HTC, Acer, Motorola Mobility and Xiaomi — already offer their own branded protection plans across multiple countries, and others are expected to follow suit. By the end of 2020, such branded plans will account for a market worth nearly $4.5 billion, says ReportsnReports.

In an effort to boost the uptake of their mobile phone insurance plans, mobile operators and insurance providers have extensively enhanced their offerings with a number of differentiating features such as multi-device coverage, integrated device security apps, prioritized...

The global mobile phone insurance market is expected to account for $20.5 billion in revenue by the end of 2017, according to ReportsnReports.com.

The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of approximately 10% over the next three years, eventually accounting for more than $27 billion in revenue by the end of 2020, adds the research group. Many smartphone makers — including Apple, Samsung, HTC, Acer, Motorola Mobility and Xiaomi — already offer their own branded protection plans across multiple countries, and others are expected to follow suit. By the end of 2020, such branded plans will account for a market worth nearly $4.5 billion, says ReportsnReports.

In an effort to boost the uptake of their mobile phone insurance plans, mobile operators and insurance providers have extensively enhanced their offerings with a number of differentiating features such as multi-device coverage, integrated device security apps, prioritized...

Worldwide PC monitor shipments totaled 28.5 million units in 2Q17, according to IDC. While the shipment total represented a decline of 6.4% over the prior year, some of the market softness can be attributed to a strong second quarter in 2016 (2Q16), presenting the most recently closed quarter with a challenging comparison, adds the research group.

However, market consternations persist. For starters, the 28.5 million units shipped also represents a sequential decline of 1.2%, the first sequential decline for a second calendar quarter since 2014. A sequential decline in a mid-year quarter is typically the outcome of digestion of excess inventory, which is troubling given that 1Q17 also opened in the red.

Still, IDC says that “optimism abounds,” particularly around replacements of old monitors approaching end of life. Strong back-to-school and holiday seasons should prop the market up, and as such, IDC has revised its forecast for the second half of 2017 from -2.8%...

Daniel Research Group (DRG) says three key causal factors will influence the personal computing and communications market over the next five years.

The research group expects desktop and mobile PC shipments to be slightly down this year (-0.6%), it anticipates healthy growth in 2018 (5.3%) before the economic slow-down moderates growth in 2019-2020 (1.6%, 1.9%), followed by a return to higher growth (5.7%) in 2020 as the economy recovers. Over the same period, mobile phones shipments will continue slow growth in line with historic rates, while tablets shipments will fall sharply losing share to mobile PCs and smartphones, says DRG.

"The average age of the personal computing device installed base has reached historic high,” says President Stephen Daniel. “Newer models better meeting users expanding content delivery, capture, and creation needs will replace many of these PCs and Tablets. We expect replacement rates to accelerate for the next two years, flatten during...

According to IDC, the combined consumer and enterprise worldwide wireless local area network (WLAN) market segments grew 2.5% year over year in the second quarter of 2017 (2Q17), finishing at $2.37 billion.

The research group added that the enterprise segment grew 9.4% year over year in 2Q17 to reach $1.48 billion. In the enterprise segment, annualized growth in 2Q17 was comparable to that of 2Q16, when year-over-year growth also registered at 9.4%.

IDC believes that a steady stream of upgrades to the 802.11ac standard as part of the digital transformation (DX) of the enterprise contributed heavily to the 2Q17 growth. The 802.11ac standard now accounts for 84.5% of dependent access point unit shipments and 92.1% of dependent access point revenues, up from 70.9% and 84.7% in 1Q17. This significant sequential jump points to a continued trend of 802.11n obsolescence, which is expected to be nearly complete by the end of 2018.

According to IDC, the total security appliance market saw positive growth in both vendor revenue and unit shipments for the second quarter of 2017 (2Q17).

Worldwide vendor revenues in the second quarter increased 9.2% year over year to $3.0 billion and shipments grew 7.0% year over year to 706,186 units, notes the research group. The trend for growth in the worldwide market driven by the Unified Threat Management (UTM) sub-market continues, with UTM reaching record-high revenues of $1.6 billion in 2Q17 and year-over-year growth of 16.8%, the highest growth among all sub-markets.

The UTM market now represents more than 50% of worldwide revenues in the security appliance market. The Firewall and Content Management sub-markets also had positive year-over-year revenue growth in 2Q17 with gains of 9.5% and 6.4%, respectively. The Intrusion Detection and Prevention and Virtual Private Network (VPN) sub-markets experienced weakening revenues in the quarter with year-over-...

The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is the growing niche market for wrist wearables, according to Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

The popularity of wrist wearables has been growing to a large extent in the global smart wearables market, adds the research group. Apart from smartwatches and fitness bands, the vendors in the market are focusing on the development and manufacture of various other wrist wearables, including bracelets and tags.

According to Research and Markets, one of the major drivers for this market is compatibility with other electronic devices. One of the most significant features of a smartwatch is its ability to connect with several devices such as TVs, media players, headsets, smartphones, laptops, point-of-sale devices, and several other devices that have Bluetooth and NFC connectivity capabilities. Currently, smartwatches can be...

Parks Associates has announced new research showing that nearly 40% of U.S. broadband households with an insurance policy would switch providers in order to obtain smart home products as part of a new insurance service.

The research group also notes that more than 80% of those likely to switch insurance providers are also likely to purchase smart home products with prevention features.

"Insurance companies that are prepared to enter the IoT space will be able to capture new market share by luring consumers already in the market for smart home devices," said Brad Russell, senior analyst, Parks Associates. "Some innovative insurers are already offering free or subsidized smart home devices in marketing efforts, but they will need to make investments in order to have the technological capabilities to collect and leverage the data to realize the full value of these devices. Both short- and long-term benefits in new services and customers will make these worthwhile.”

NordVPN (www.nordvpn.com), a VPN service provider, has conducted a National Privacy Test – a survey of almost 5,000 respondents in English-speaking countries, which has determined that, on average, Internet users are not aware of basic online security rules. The average rate of correct answers was 44 out of 100, showing some dangerous gaps in general public’s cybersecurity knowledge.

“We understand that privacy tools can sometimes be overwhelming,” said Marty P. Kamden, CMO of NordVPN. “Therefore, our goal is to find major weaknesses in cybersecurity knowledge of average Internet users and to show them the privacy tools used by experts. Moreover, we want to help people realize that significantly enhancing their security is not that complicated and can be done in few clicks. We have also noticed that even though people seem to know the answers to many questions, they do not apply their knowledge in practice....

According to new data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) says that nearly 50% of U.S. broadband households are concerned about unauthorized access of to their personal data.

"Operators are transitioning their business models from narrow consumer cases of providing broadband, video, and voice to operating as comprehensive media and technology entities," said Glenn Hower, senior analyst, Parks Associates. "In addition, operators are expanding their definition of security from preventing content piracy to securing big data streams and protecting consumer privacy."

According to Parks Associates, nearly 50% of U.S. broadband households are very concerned that someone will access their connected devices or data without permission. Nearly 75% want to keep tight control over their personal data. By addressing these consumer concerns and allaying fears, operators have the opportunity to...

A major shift is taking place in how enterprises select their financial management applications, with a migration to cloud applications happening faster than expected, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). A recent survey of senior finance executives by the research group found that by 2020, 36% of enterprises will use the cloud to support more than half of their transactional systems of record.

Gartner surveyed 439 global senior financial executives (including 410 who had implemented cloud strategic and financial corporate performance management solutions) from January through March 2017 to explore their technology perspective, influence of IT, needs and priorities in technology investment.
According to the survey:

° Organizations of all sizes are moving to cloud solutions, such as core financial applications, for transactional systems of record.

In the second quarter of 2017, worldwide server revenue increased 2.8 percent year over year, while shipments grew 2.4% from the second quarter of 2016, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

"The second quarter of 2017 produced some growth compared with the first quarter on a global level, with varying regional results," said Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at Gartner. "The growth for the quarter is attributable to two main factors. The first is strong regional performance in Asia/Pacific because of data center infrastructure build-outs, mostly in China. The second is ongoing hyperscale data center growth that is exhibited in the self-build/ODM (original design manufacturer) segment.”

x86 servers increased 2.5% in shipments and 6.9% in revenue, according to the research group. RISC/Itanium Unix servers fell globally for the period — down 21.4 percent in shipments and 24.9 percent in vendor...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that operator revenues from international mobile data roaming are expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of 8%, reaching $31 billion in 2022 compared to $21 billion in 2017.

This is despite a global fall in data revenues by 11% in 2017 – including a 46% decline in West Europe - as a result of operators increasingly offering RLAH (Roam Like at Home) packages around the world, according to the research group. RLAH enables users to use their monthly voice, data, and messaging allowance while roaming without incurring additional charges.

Juniper Research found that the introduction of unlimited roaming data plans in the US, Europe, and Far East will significantly drive usage by mobile roamers, leading to average data usage exceeding 1GB by the end of 2020.

New research from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) reveals that 42% of new security installations include a smart home device such as a door lock, light, or thermostat.

The data also shows that interactive services, or the ability to remotely monitor and control the security panel and sensors, are now included in more than 70% of new security system installs. At the end of 2016, nearly 60% of U.S. broadband households with professional monitoring reported having interactive services.

"The residential security market, due in part to its position as the leading channel for smart home solutions, has attracted numerous new entrants, beginning with Comcast in 2010, followed by Time Warner Cable and AT&T," said Dina Abdelrazik, research analyst, Parks Associates. "The importance of interactive services is apparent, as dealers recognize and acknowledge the positive impact on attrition...

Companies often use a metric called Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a measure of loyalty, as it calculates the likelihood that customers will recommend a company to friends and colleagues.

In a new report, “Tech Vendor NPS Benchmark, 2017,” the Temkin Group (www.TemkinGroup.com) analyzed NPS of 58 tech vendors based on feedback from 800 IT decision makers within large North American companies. NPS can range from a low of -100 to a high of +100. With an NPS of 43, Microsoft servers came out with the top score, followed by SAS Institute, Google, and VMware.
At the other end of the spectrum, four tech vendors have NPS below 0: Accenture, Affiliated Computer Services, Autodesk, and Fujitsu.

This is the sixth year that Temkin Group has completed the NPS study. The average NPS dropped from 29.9 last year to 21.4 this year, the lowest level across the six years.

The enterprise servers market is growing at a decent pace, and isn't going to saturate during the forecast period, according to new data from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

A server is a hardware system that works on an opposite software and offers network services by functioning across the computer network. A server can work on a single computer termed as a server computer or on a network comprising of many interconnected computers.

One of the major drivers of the enterprise servers market is the rise in demand for x86 servers, according to Research and Markets. Demand for enterprise servers is growing with the progress in cloud computing solutions and services market. Enterprises offering cloud computing services are implementing enterprise servers to encounter the speed and uptime demand for their services.

The wireless healthcare market is going be in demand in the near future as this system will help ease the burden of visiting hospitals and medical centers and also, one can with chronic health issues can get regular checkups done without having to worry about visiting the doctor in person, according to a new report from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

IT and automation have grown in a big way in the last few years and have helped various other sectors also with its innovation, adds the research group. Recently, both of these technologies have entered the healthcare market together in the form of wireless healthcare market. This has shown the patients and the people associated in the healthcare sector a glimpse of the future and how the healthcare in the future will be.

The healthcare industry currently requires the patients to come to the doctors and get their check-...

Even as research and investment into artificial intelligence (AI) have gone through some 60 years of booms and busts, consumers’ fascination with the technology persists.

However, it’s with the recent rise of digitization, Big Data, improved algorithms, and processing speed that consumer applications of AI have begun to emerge into the mainstream. From movie recommendations to search engine queries, AI and, more specifically, deep learning are powering a range of applications that have recalibrated consumer expectations for the digital lifestyle.

According to a new report from Tractica (www.tractica.com), consumer AI now accounts for the largest portion of AI software, hardware, and services revenue, reaching $1.9 billion in 2016 and rising to $2.7 billion by the end of 2017, which is greater than any other industry segment. Although the entire market, including consumer AI, remains in its infancy, the...

The worldwide market for Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) headsets grew 25.5% year over year in the second quarter of 2017 (2Q17) as shipments reached 2.1 million, according to IDC (www.idc.com).

Volumes declined slightly from the prior quarter, but recent price cuts on existing products and announced plans for new products are expected to lay the groundwork for a successful holiday season, according to the research group.

"Growth in the VR market has been rather sluggish compared to other recently introduced technologies as the amount of investment and, more importantly, the need for end user education is extremely high for VR," said Jitesh Ubrani senior research analyst for IDC's Mobile Device Trackers. "Though the recent price cuts across all major platforms will help alleviate one of the barriers to adoption, providing consumers the opportunity to learn about products and try before they buy is...

Over 90% of large US companies with 500+ employees have a cybersecurity policy in place to protect them from both real and anticipated threat, according to a new survey from Clutch (www.clutch.co) a B2B ratings and reviews firm.

Clutch surveyed over 300 corporate IT decision-makers about what to include in a cybersecurity policy and found that security software, data backup and storage, and scam detection are the most common areas cybersecurity policies cover. Phishing attacks are the cybersecurity attack large companies most commonly experience: 57% of IT decision-makers said their company experienced a phishing attack in the past year.

Over 80% of IT decision-makers surveyed say they proactively communicate their company's cybersecurity policy, policy compliance, and training to employees. However, only two-thirds (66%) of these decision-makers enforce their company's cybersecurity policy.

According to Stratistics MRC, the global wireless audio device market is estimated at $14.56 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach $32.56 billion by 2023 growing at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 12.1% from 2016 to 2023.

The research group adds that some of the factors influencing the market include growing demand for smart phones as a basis of entertainment, rapid technological advancements and high expenditure on semiconductor for wireless devices. In addition, demand from automotive industry creates huge growth opportunities for market. However, negative health effects on children and other user groups and strict regulations on the frequency range of audio devices are some key factors inhibiting the market growth.

Among applications, home audio segment acquired the largest market share owing to constant technological advancements in home audio devices and rising consumer demand for high-performance home theaters. Based on product, sound bars segment is...

Cyber threats have traditionally been associated with an adversary remotely attacking a corporation's networks and resources. However, as cyber defenses improve, adversaries are turning to physical access to commence the attack process for conducting malicious operations.

To mitigate this risk within the enterprise, the IT, OT and physical security groups are converging security operations into a combined joint security operations center (JSOC), according to Revolutionary Security (http://www.rev-sec.com), which provides clients and partners the expertise and solutions to proactively defend against all cyber threats across enterprise IT and industrial control systems.

"Defending large and targeted corporations requires a commitment to a holistic cyber defense program that includes both physical and logical threat coverage," says Jason Holcomb, director, Industrial Control Systems Security at...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that Visa and Mastercard’s distinct evolutionary strategies in digital payments will underpin the success of a market expected to increase from $3.8 trillion globally this year to more than $5 trillion by 2020.

The report pinpointed Mastercard’s two-pronged approach; the company is developing partnerships with third party wallets from players such as Apple and Samsung, while also introducing its own API-based wallet. Juniper says that Visa’s attempts to reduce friction in online payments through the implementation of one-click login (Visa Checkout) will increase conversion rates and overall online customer spend. Meanwhile, the study identified best-in-class players across the digital payments ecosystem, placing the following companies at the head of their respective Juniper Leaderboards: digital wallets: PayPal; PSPs (payment...

Information is not information unless it reflects reality. All real world activity generates observable data, and such data is the necessary starting point for information.

The term "fake data" is an oxymoron, for alleged data not rooted in real wold activities and events simply isn't. In his long and hopefully not too misspent life, the Spy has occasionally encountered people who believe they possess data that is no more than their imagination working overtime. Even by people who pride themselves in being right about everything, acts get jumbled, events get moved around in time and given content and/or meanings that are pure fabrication.

Such is also often (nearly always?) the case when someone attributes motives to explain another's words or actions. Only one Being apprehends the thoughts and motivations of people's hearts. Indeed, the Spy has had motives attributed to him that were exactly the opposite of his actual ones...

New digital health research from international firm Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that three-fourths of consumers 40 years and older expect to live in their own home when they turn 80, which will drive adoption and innovation in aging-in-place solutions. P

The research group joined industry executives this week at the fourth annual Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers in San Diego, to discuss the role of connected health technologies and smart home crossover use cases to enable aging-in-place and independent living for current and future generations. The Summit also examines the latest consumer research in connected health and successful approaches in deploying connected healthcare products and services within the expanding IoT market.

According to Parks Associates, more than 40% of U.S. broadband households own at least one connected health device, while...

The global event management software market is estimated to reach $14.45 billion by 2022 from $7.57 billion in 2016 with a growing CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 11.39% during the forecast period (2016-2022).

Geographically, North America is the leading region in the event management software market where U.S. occupies highest market share in the region. More than 50% market revenue comes from U.S. only due to the established event management software market. Other countries such as Canada and Mexico are the growing countries in the region.

It’s estimated that North America would reach $6.95 billion by 2022 from $3.37 billion in 2016, where U.S. is estimated to grow with the highest CAGR of 13.68% from 2016-2022. Europe is a fast growing region in the event management software market and is estimated to grow with a CAGR of 11.23% during forecast period. Growing investment by key players, namely Cvent & Etouches, and increasing technical innovations in the...

The global smart medical devices market is expected to reach $ 24.46 billion by 2025, according to Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

The increasing adoption of smartphones is observed as a major factor driving market growth, according to the research group. In addition, the technological advancement and the rising awareness and focus on fitness is driving the market.

The increasing demand for wireless and smartphone compatible devices which is enhancing the diagnosis and makes accurate detection is making it convenient for patients to monitor their health anywhere and save the result on the connected device, is additionally driving the market, says Research and Markets.

Diagnostic and monitoring segment was the largest product category in 2015, but is expected to register a lower growth as compared to the therapeutic segment over the forecast period. Blood...

The global music streaming market to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 14.05% during the period 2017-2021, according to Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

According to the research group, one of the major drivers for this market is High growth in mobile ad spending market. Mobile advertising is currently one of the most popular methods of advertising. The increased penetration of smartphones and tablets worldwide is one of the major driving forces for the growth of digital music.

Vendors also offer free downloading and streaming services for mobile devices. Mobile ad spending is one of the major sources of revenue for digital music service providers, which in turn supports the growth of the music streaming market. In 2016, the global mobile ad spending market was valued at $98.95 billion, and Research and Markets expects this to grow at a CAGR of 13.07%...

CouponFollow (www.couponfollow.com) has released a report exploring the behaviors and motivations of Millennial smartphone shoppers. The Millennial Smartphone Poll surveyed 1,015 young people between the ages of 20-35 to uncover key factors that influence the purchasing behavior of America’s largest generation.

The poll states that the majority of Millennials are satisfied with their current smartphone and that 89% plan to purchase their next phone from their current brand. However, many Millennials are unwilling to pay a high price for their next device. When participants were asked to estimate how much they would spend for a new smartphone, 68% said they would pay $500 or less. Additionally, only 14% claimed they’d be willing to spend more than $700.

“This generation’s brand loyalty is off the charts when it comes to smartphones,” said Michael Parrish DuDell, chief strategy officer at...

Global sales of smartphones to end users totaled 366.2 million units in the second quarter of 2017, a 6.7% increase over the second quarter of 2016, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). In the smartphone operating system market, Android extended its lead with 87.7% market share, while iOS accounted for 12.1%, says the research group.

"Although demand for utility smartphones remains strong, there is growing demand in emerging markets for 4G smartphones, with more storage, better processors and more advanced cameras. This is translating into higher demand for midpriced [$150 to $200] smartphones," said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner.

Sales of all types of smartphone grew in the second quarter of 2017, compared with the second quarter of 2016. However, there is a concern about rising component costs, as well as limited supply, due to the reduced availability of critical components.

A new study from Juniper Research has found more than half (53%) of global transactions at POS (Point of Sale) will be contactless within 5 years, compared to just 15% this year.

The research group found that adoption in the US would rise sharply over the period, with contactless rising from less than 2% of transactions this year to 34% by 2022. Juniper says that customer dissatisfaction at the slower speeds of chip card transactions, allied to burgeoning contactless infrastructure, would provide further impetus for smartphone-based payments currently dominated by Apple Pay.

According to the research, in markets where contactless has been heavily promoted, such as Poland and the UK, adoption has soared, while mandates both from Visa and Mastercard mean that all POS terminals in many markets must be contactless-enabled by 2020.

The global over-the-top (OTT) devices and services market is expected to reach $165 billion by 2025, according to new data from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

The rising penetration of mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones, and advancements in consumer electronics devices such as smart TVs, are estimated to drive the demand for OTT content and services amongst the masses over the forecast period, adds the research group.

There has been a rapid surge in the demand for OTT videos, particularly in developing economies. TV digitization initiatives by various regional governments and broadcasters across the world have enabled OTT content to emerge as the popular platform for video consumption.

Businesses across various sectors are increasingly seeking contemporary technological models to provide personalized experiences to their customers, such as TV...

The global smart speaker market to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 24.02% during the period 2017-2021, according to new data from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

According to the research group, one of the major drivers for this market is increase in number of smart homes. A large number of homes in developed countries such as the U.S. and the UK are being renovated into smart homes. In a smart home, smart electronics, consumer electronic devices, and media and entertainment gadgets are connected to the home network and can interact with each other.

The demand for smart homes is highly driven by energy saving requirements, convenience, and connectivity among the home devices, according to Research and Markets. It is also fueled by government initiatives to promote smart homes for a better living. Among the common examples of solutions in this market...

Worldwide spending on information security products and services will reach $86.4 billion in 2017, an increase of 7% over 2016, with spending expected to grow to $93 billion in 2018, according to the latest forecast from Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

Within the infrastructure protection segment, the research group forecasts fast growth in the security testing market (albeit from a small base) due to continued data breaches and growing demands for application security testing as part of DevOps. Spending on emerging application security testing tools, particularly interactive application security testing (IAST), will contribute to the growth of this segment through 2021.

Security services will continue to be the fastest growing segment, especially IT outsourcing, consulting and implementation services. However, hardware support services will see growth slowing, due to the adoption of virtual appliances,...

The emerging technologies on the “Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2017” reveal three distinct megatrends that will enable businesses to survive and thrive in the digital economy over the next five to 10 years.

Artificial intelligence (AI) everywhere, transparently immersive experiences and digital platforms are the trends that will provide unrivaled intelligence, create profoundly new experiences and offer platforms that allow organizations to connect with new business ecosystems, according to Gartner (www.gartner.com).

"Enterprise architects who are focused on technology innovation must evaluate these high-level trends and the featured technologies, as well as the potential impact on their businesses," said Mike J. Walker, research director at the research group. "In addition to the potential impact on businesses, these trends provide a significant opportunity for enterprise architecture...

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) forecasts 1.4 billion 5G connections by 2025, an increase from just one million in 2019, the anticipated first year of commercial launch. This will represent an average annual growth of 232%.

Juniper’s new research says that, to be successful, 5G fixed wireless broadband need to meet expectations in real-world scenarios to compete with fibre broadband.
The research group says China, the U.S., and Japan will have the highest number of 5G connections by 2025. Together these 3 countries will have 55% of all 5G connections by 2025.

Additionally, Juniper finds that the US alone will account for over 30% of global 5G IoT connections by 2025, with the highest number of 5G connections for fixed wireless broadband and automotive services. In terms of commercial IoT [Internet of Things] revenues, the research group says that the ARPC (...

MDR, a data and research driven marketing services agency, has released its third research report (www.schooldata.com) for the “State of the K-12 Market,” which examines shifts in U.S. K-12 instructional priorities and initiatives in light of rapid technology acceleration and advancements.

The report finds that U.S. K-12 are seeing these emerging trends: transition to more digital instructional and curricular materials; innovative ways to enhance teaching and learning anywhere and anytime; and the growing proliferation of computing devices preferred by students.

Based on a national survey of U.S. district curriculum directors, the 127-page report, by Dr. Rita Oates, President of Oates Associates, and MDR's EdNET Insight research team, finds that over 60% of curriculum directors said they wanted more evidence of product efficacy. Nearly as many said they are looking for digital instructional materials...

A recent global Gartner survey (www.gartner.com) revealed that 75% of end-user organizations would be willing to pay more for 5G mobile capabilities. Only 24% of the survey's respondents would be unwilling to pay more for 5G than for 4G.

"Those in the telecom industry are more likely to be prepared to pay more than those in other industries," said Sylvain Fabre, research director at Gartner. "End-user organizations in the manufacturing, services and government sectors, for example, are less likely to be willing to pay a premium for 5G than telecom companies, which are willing to pay a 5G premium for their internal use.”

In addition to offering better prices for industries in which users are less convinced of the business benefits of 5G, communications service providers (CSPs) must create value propositions that entice customers to start 5G migration projects sooner.

When it comes to consumer credit and payment methods, there are vast differences cross-generationally, as evidenced by First National Bank’s recent consumer survey. Results demonstrated that while a majority of respondents opened their first credit card at the age of 18, when looking at generational payment values and methods, behavior vastly differs depending on age.

“It was interesting to see that that while there have been many advancements in the digital age, consumers still consistently use traditional methods of payment such as credit cards and debit cards. Overall, it was surprising to see that geographic location had little effect on responses, and how drastic of an impact age had. I look forward to seeing how technology will continue to affect future generations and help influence their personal finances,” said Jerry O’Flanagan, executive vice president, Consumer Banking Group.

Survey findings revealed that older generations on average own more credit...

A recent study (http://tinyurl.com/yb6tto9j) found that one out of four drivers were on the phone right before an accident. New York officials are even considering using a new device called a “textalyzer” which would allow them to see if a motorist had been using their phone just before a crash.

“Reaction times for texting drivers are 35% slower than the reaction times of focused drivers,” says Karl Volkman, chief technical officer of SRV Network, Inc., a Microsoft Gold Certified partner that offers a variety of IT services. “Meanwhile, drunk drivers have a 12% slower reaction time. This does not mean that drunk driving is safe—however, it does show how dangerous texting while driving truly is.”

While the textalyzer technology is being considered by Gov. Cuomo, many people fear that this will be an invasion of privacy. To that end, many companies have created hands-free technology that can...

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